3 Ravens & A Duck!

3 Ravens White:

Many, many non German brewers have tryed witbier. (Witbier is the fermentation of malt extracted from wheat grain, not barly). Almost all of these brewers given time have fallen by the way side. This is because the German product is of an incredable quality. One reason could be that there are breweries there that have been in continual operation for more than seven hundred years! Those are just the ones makeing beer from wheat. Don't get me started on older brewers useing oats, barley, random wild seeds, horse shit, and who knows what else lost to antiquity.
Infact archaeologists have shown that in Germany the formalised production of beer predates the cultivation of crops. Clay tablets found in Germany containing among other things recipes for makeing beer have been dated at around 60,000 BC. Historians have since recreated these beers. They contained wild oats, grasses, peat moss, even horse dung. It was reported that the resulting beer tasted like shit. (True)!
Importantly though, after 60,000+ years of development you end up with such astounding biers as the revered Hoe Garden Grand Cru, and Shofferhoffer Heifervizen. These witbiers alone are good enough to blast all new comers out of taste contention. Hard task for an Australian beer to master. Bloody oath!

Heres what 3 Ravens brewery said:
"Engineered by hand, this beer is the product of a craft brewing process in whitch traditional methods meet exacting standards. We take care to emphasise quality over quantity and to use only the finest natural ingredents."
To describe the beer they add:
"3 Ravens White is an exotic ale, Based on traditional Belgain witbier. Sweet barley malt is balanced with tart wheat and spiced with coriander and citrus peel, resulting in a rich yet quenching brew. Traditional bottle conditioning naturally carbonates this beer and helps add to it's complexity."
To witch I reply with this:
If this beer was based on a traditional Belgain witbier, by definition there would be no mention of barley malt what so ever. Further the german beer prurity law of 1610 states that beer may only contain water, malt, hops, and yeast. Sublte varients in the frementation process of these ingredents give rise to flavor profiles such as coriander and citrus peel. To force these profiles on a beer by adding coriander and citrus peel violates the beer pruirty law and further removes it from the style of wheat beer. In short 3 Ravens White can not be called a witbier.
However. As a beer: This is one of the better micro brewer beers I've tryed in a while. Anice wheaty golden colour. Revealing a small fine and slow bead. Head was fluffy at first but subsided to quickly. The unfermented malts contribute a plesant sweetness. While the citrus and coriander hop flavors are refreshing and well balanced.
Not boring, worth a try, but no witbier.

Soy Marinated Grilled Breast Of Duck.

Breast of duck can be a bitch to cook well. What I did here was to marinate the flesh in soy and rice wine for about 1 hour. Then after patting dry it was placed onto a super hot grill skin side down for about 1 minute then into a pre heated oven at 250c for a further 15 minutes before being rested, carved, and served on a cous cous salad. Worked well with the beer...